A World Beyond Dreams
by Lo0pster
Summary: Alex gets pulled in by curiosity.Now shes fighting to stay alive through the torture,abuse and hardships that follow. When your a prisoner of the Dark Lord you will cling to anything to survive,be it a bad sense of humor or a large black dog called Sirius
1. A windy Day

Hey guys!

Sorry i been absent for so long but i've made some major changes to the story...of course since its me editing their are gonna be countless mistakes so please tell me where they are and i'll fix them up....oops i just found one! *runs to change*

So Anyways will incorporate Dark themes (im not gonna say what cause SPOILERS) just remember i'm a cheerful person and so it won't be too bad. Read and you know review if you would like *begging puppy eyes* For all those people who stayed with me...hahahaha u guys must be crazzzyyyyy! So take a leap of faith and read the first chapter i dare you!

This story is dedicated to The Hat Gang....

_Rhyme and reason, reason and rhyme,  
We ask the old man what is the time  
The time he said I do not know  
The clock stopped working sometime ago  
What a disaster was our reply  
We don't know if its 1 o'clock or half past 5  
The man kept talking things were fine  
Looking to the sky he said the time was for  
Reason and rhyme_

_Reason and Rhyme, rhyme and reason  
We asked the old lady what is the season  
The season she said you can't be sure  
The weather is strange can't tell you anymore  
woh my god woh my god woh my god  
What a thing we don't know if its  
Summer autumn winter or spring  
Then she said this may be pleasing  
The time has come for rhyme and reason_

_Rhyme and reason and destination  
We ask ourselves what is this nation  
This place they say is no mans land  
And terranaleous is written in the sand  
So what with all these spaces  
Why can't we be independent?  
And combine the races  
Well we will see what we can do  
Like time and season  
We will rhyme and reason_

_(Rhyme and Reason by The Cat Empire)_

**Chapter One**

**A Windy Day**

The day was perfect, not a cloud in the sky and birds were singing rejoicing at the perfect flying conditions. In other words, it was dead boring and school just made it worse. Staring out the window there wasn't much to do to amuse oneself. No clouds to look at, no trees to watch tossing in the wind and nobody to laugh at when they got caught out in the rain. All there was, was boring blue sky.

Sounds kinda lame staring at clouds and watching trees but I'm sure there are plenty out there who are stuck in some maths class and know exactly what I'm talking about, having had to go to these extreme measures to keep their self sane.

Some one poking me quickly brought my attention back to the class. I looked questionably at Kate, who simply smiled and continued poking. When that didn't get much more of a reaction out of me she started drawing all over my arm.

'_Well I guess I was right'_ I thought amused _'beautiful sunny days lead people to go to extremes to keep them selves sane.'_

"Homework for tonight" Mrs Bay announced as I switched my attention from Kate to the front of the classroom, "Is Chapter three, questions 1, 2, 3 and 7 due tomorrow. And I _will _be checking!"

I sighed over dramatically and dragged out my diary, fought a miniature war with Kate trying to get my pen back (which she had been using to draw all over me) and managed to write in the homework.

Finally we were dismissed and every one hurried out to lunch. From there we went to the lockers, got pushed and shoved (as always and as always I also did more than my own fair share of pushing and shoving) as people tried to get to their lockers, get lunch and then hurry off with friends to hang out and eat.

I joined my friends on the Lawn under the tree, taking refuge in the shade from the hot weather. Three weeks until Christmas and it seemed we were already well into summer with temperatures reaching into the high thirties and sometimes low forties. Lunch finally finished and with faint traces of relief we entered cool air-conditioned classes. The rest of the day managed to pass pretty quickly, well as quickly as any school day can.

The bus ride home was around a forty-minute trip and in the heat it seemed to take forever to arrive. Finally my stop came up and my brother and I stepped off onto the path. My brother Matt was eleven, three years younger than me. Matt wasn't my only brother there was also Harry who was ten and Sam who was eight. Then there was also my mum and dad; Wendy and Paul.

Getting home was the usual thing; gorging my self on whatever I could find, getting yelled at by mum for not putting the bread away, getting into tussles with brothers, breaking up tussles between brothers and finally going into my room and getting onto Msn. Msn for those who don't know is Hotmail, for those who don't know Hotmail (you are a very sad person who most likely has never been on the net before and is completely and hopelessly ignorant.) its an instant messaging service where you are able to talk to another person instantly (although with my computer you had to allow a few seconds for lag).

My mum came into my room just as I started to sign in and get other web pages up which I could surf.

"Alex! It's a beautiful day! You can go outside and take the dog for a walk or go find someone to play with but you are NOT sitting around on the computer!" she announced.

That's another reason I hate sunny days. People always expect you to do something outside. "But Muuuuummmm" I whinnied pitifully

"No buts! You can go take the dog out or go kick the footy."

My mum left the room and I scowled at her back. Grudgingly I signed in as and BRB or Be Right Back on Msn grabbed the leash, some doggy bags and then the dog.

Cindy was a cross between a golden retriever and cattle dog. Cindy had been the last of the pups, and the runt of the litter as well as the only black dog of the litter; all her brothers and sisters had been golden. We didn't care and had fallen in love with her on first sight.

Cindy wasn't like your average dog, for one thing she didn't think she was a dog, she thought she was human. We never had to worry about Cindy running off with another dog because she was completely uninterested in all and any dogs (whom she considered "lower" than her). Yes our dog had a superiority complex.

I walked along the river, staring into the slightly murky waves. I guess that was a good thing about Australia. We weren't too choked up in pollution. It was an even better thing in Perth, where we had a tiny population (of course being the most isolated city in the world also helped).

I finally decided that I had been out, long enough to satisfy my mother and the sun, although setting, was still too warm for my liking. "Come on Cindy, home time." She just looked at me with her big brown eyes. I smiled "Come on I'll race you to the end of the road…ready…set...go!" I ran. Cindy, who a few seconds ago had been looking at me confused, suddenly realised I wanted to race. She easily over took me and went into a light jog to show-off just how easily she had won.

"Ha!" I said when we reached the end of the road "you won this time but our rematch shall be different" Cindy just looked at me as if to say 'What an idiot'. I smiled, putting her back on the leash we continued on our way.

As the sun got even lower a breeze finally kicked up and added to the chill, I looked to the horizon behind me and could see more dark clouds gathering, _'Yay summer storms, I love summer storms.' _

"Ok Cindy come on, wait no don't do that!" but it was too late. Cindy had just done a poo right in the middle of some ones front lawn. Grumbling I took the doggy disposable bag off the end of the leash and picked it up. Pausing as I tied the bag to look a the house in front of me.

The house was old, I had passed it countless times before but this time I actually stopped and looked at it. The house looked like it was falling to pieces and separating the house was a small wall, the wall was kind of like those sidewalk paths that go through suburbs and usually lead to parks, however I had never noticed it before. The gap couldn't be more than three feet wide. It was like No Mans Land and the houses next to each other were the opposing armies.

A violent freezing wind suddenly screamed past me, bringing goose bumps to my flesh, making my eyes stream and stealing my breath away with it abruptness and strength. That kind of wind did not belong here, or in Perth, at least not on this kind of day or at this time of year. As quickly as it had come up the wind died away.

"Weird" I stated. I looked for Cindy, and found she was standing with her hackles up and coat bristling.

"Relax girl, it's just a bit of wind" I said soothingly but she continued to stay there, staring at the houses. I tried to see exactly what she was staring at, then realised that it wasn't the house at all but the gap between the fences.

Swallowing nervously for some reason I made my way over to the gap. Cindy went crazy and started barking furiously. Angry, I growled at her "QUIET GIRL!" She reduced her barking to a whine.

I was feeling slightly ill now and seriously considered turning back. '_Come on Alex' _I said to myself '_if you don't do this it will rub at you afterwards, it's probably just a cat.' _my curiosity was too strong_ so _with only a second of hesitation I dropped the bag, with the dog poo in it, to the ground walking over to the fence. I was less than a metre away from the gap and was peering intently into it, when once again another massive gust of wind screamed past me. I was slightly more prepared this time, but was still in a state of awe at the strength of the wind.

It was then that all my courage fled me and I was left frozen. The wind hadn't been screaming! Those were actual screams being carried by the wind! I could hear screams in the wind coming through the fence, not the screams of fun or the squeals of girls who had seen a spider, no these were a mans screams, a man who sounded like, like, like he was being tortured, what was worse was what followed the screams…laughter, high pitched evil laughter.

When the gust had gone I gathered my self and worriedly peered, ever so intently into the gap, but it was like seeing through foggy bathroom class, I could only make out what had to be trees and other features of the natural environment. Making a quick decision I turned and called Cindy. Tail between the legs she came, dogs are after all above everything extremely loyal.

"Good girl" I murmured giving her I quick pet, "just like in the movies and books girl, we're going to sneak in like spies find out what is beyond the gap, it will be a adventure who knows we might go on and become heroes." Cindy just gave me a sad eyed look. Even I could tell I was being stupid, doing the kind of thing that a blonde ditz would do in a scary movie right before being horrible mutilated. However I was renown for having an obsessive amount of curiosity.

"Oh come on, this is real life, that kinda stuff doesn't happen" I argued back with myself as my brief surge of confidence left me. "Come on nothing to be afraid of. Chances are it's going to be nothing". With that I turned away and stepped again, now on the very edge of the gap and as I stepped fully through a thought kept going through my head, _' I really hope this isn't a bad idea.'_

As I walked the world seemed to change, to become warped and stretched, my footing suddenly not as stable as it should have been. Although I had never been drunk before I gathered this would probably be what it was like. The wind came again but stronger I tried to walk on. I was sure I was near the end the houses. They shouldn't have gone back this far. More screams faintly reached my ears. I looked down at Cindy she was whinnying I grabbed her collar and she started to struggle "Cindy, settle girl!" she just struggled more and then her collar slipped off and she turned tail and fled back the way we had come.

'_What the hell'_ I thought _'how did she escape her collar sure It's loose but it's not loose enough that she would be able to slip it off?' Suddenly alone my confidence quickly melted away, this… no-mans-land was strange things seemed warped. Looking at my hands they seemed to be distorted changing in size and colour, even substance. It was almost like I was tripping on drugs_.

I started to run with great difficulty against the wind, but now I wasn't sure which way was which, I harshly pep-talked myself on keeping calm. It seemed like I had gone miles and I felt like I was in a completely different universe, _'God must have gone the wrong way, no way I was this far in' _I worried. I glanced a look up at the sky except there was no sky, just thousands of swirling… I wasn't even sure what; it looked like a mixture of leaves and feathers all combined into a streaky aqua colour that had substance! I stumbled in amazement and tripped as I tried to stop and turn around.

The wind chose that moment to intensify, causing me to stumble and before I could regain my balance it flew me seven feet picking up speed all the while and bashed me against a wall, there was a strong flash on pain in my head, before blackness.  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I moaned groggily without opening my eyes, wincing at the pounding headache that seemed to roll like a drum "boom, boom, boom" they pain echoed my pulse. Blearily I opened my eyes, attempting to get them to focus. Shocked I sat up, which I immediately regretted as the world swam. I turned on my side and vomited, whimpering at the feeling. Once done I then sat gasping for air. Looking around I found my self-surrounded by trees.

"What happened?" I said aloud, I waited a few seconds but my mind just came up with a massive blank. "Ok next question…who am I?" I just about had to vomit again, as goose bumps raised themselves on my flesh. I couldn't remember! Not who I was, not where I lived, Not-.

I cut of those thoughts and concentrated on just Breathing, the pain had reduced to a gentle thumping and now offered me something from my past that I could focus on. _'In… out…in…out, boom, boom, boom' _once I had quelled the panic riding up high in my chest I gave a careful look to my surroundings.

Trees…some bushes…, more trees...grass, oh did I mention trees? Absolutely nothing looked familiar. Again I asked my self '_where am I?'_ This time my mind actually came up with an answer '_Forest'. _'_Oh so I do have a working brain?'_ my brain didn't answer which did little to reassure me.

As I looked around I noticed something on the ground a few feet away from me I picked it up. It looked like a…like a…_'Collar?'_ yea that's it. I turned the collar around on my hands it was bright red and on it was a tag. Turning the tag over it read "CINDY".

There! I finally managed a small break through with memories and I jumped to my feet.

"Oh shit!" I said as I looked around, what, what had happened, I had stepped through the fence and then, then, then I had been running, "Cindy" she ran away and then…

Then I had awoken here.

I shivered where ever I was, it wasn't Perth…for that matter it didn't even look like a part of Australia, It didn't look like a tropical rain forest, like in Queensland and I defiantly could not see any Eucalyptus trees or Wattle. No this kind of forest with the tall trees is the kind I would expect to find in Tasmania or maybe within Europe.

I shivered again; it was cold, really cold. _'That's another thought, Perth is never this cold, unless in the dead of winter'_.

"Great!" I pouted to the tree next to me "I'm in the middle of who knows where, lost confused, cold, I have a major head ache, and I'm talking to a tree!" The tree didn't reply, for that I was glad, if the tree had started talking back to me I'm pretty sure I would have freaked deciding that not only had I lost my memory but my sanity along with it.

"Well as much as I would love to stay and chat," I told the tree "I simply must go and try to find the wayback… guess you don't know the way? No? Oh well"

So with a sigh I started walking, I was really starting to shiver and knew the best way to stay warm was to keep moving. All the same my head pounded harshly with the sudden movement before dying down to a constant dull ache.

'Okay so I'm in a forest, there should be some form of civilisation so perhaps if I walk around a bit I might find a path...' The thought was stupid but what else was I to do?

A violent gust of wind made me stagger, carrying with it the sounds of a yelling. More memories stormed my mind "Oh god" I whispered as I remember why I had gone down the fence _'the screams'. _This time though the wind carried the sound of many men yelling, almost like a hunting party. YES! People go hunting in the woods! Maybe I could get some help.

I started forward, barely taking a few steps when before a rustling and the sounds of twigs snapping suddenly caught my attention to a spot just left of me. I waited my breath held frozen in place. I wanted to hide behind a tree, or to run but my feet, I think had decided to go on strike…or pull a 'sicky'. Instead I curled my fists (which were thankfully working) and tried to take a casual fighting stance eyeing the ground for a weapon. My eyes fell upon a decent sized stick but before I could grab it a large Black dog burst out of the bushes and came straight at me.

At my scream the black dog just managed to stop before crashing into me. He stared at me and I stared at him (or she I hadn't been able to work out if it was a girl or a boy) both of us where frozen, me in fear the dog in curiosity. The dog was massive I didn't know what breed he was but he was huge easily over a metre and came up to my upper chest.

The dog was panting heavily like he/she had run a great distance not to mention he was covered with saliva.

"Good doggy" I murmured like a baby. I held my hand out for it to smell. I wasn't afraid of dogs I told myself in an effort to reduce my fear, animals could sense your fear couldn't they? Still the teeth looked abnormally large…and sharp.

The dog wasted less than a second sniffing my hand, it seemed to be thinking.

"Are you lost to boy?" He gave me a look then cocked his head ears pricked, I copied the movement faintly I could hear, again the sounds of shouts and of people running through bushes. The dog obviously decided on a course of action and leapt at me.

I squeaked in fright, not quiet able to manage a scream in my surprise, but the dog just grabbed my hand and started dragging me. I struggled frightened that I would lose my hand any second, but the grip although firm was not painful. I tried struggling a bit more and the dog growled before clamping down a bit harder. I winced at that before deciding it was in the best interest of my hand to follow the stupid mongrel.

'_Ok this is not good'_ I tried to get my other hand around the mutts mouth but a warning growl stopped me '_ok think Alex come on it's a stupid dog just find out what it wants…and hope that its not dragging you away to eat'._

"Let go of me you idiot dog!" I argued furiously to no effect. I then went through a rather large vocabulary of very un-lady like words and sentences seeing if pure intimidation would work... Nothing. I sniffled suddenly teary, my head hurt, I was confused about where I was, I was being dragged along by some over sized (probably wild dog) and not to mention the fact that the shouts behind us had gotten louder. Today just hadn't obviously been a good day for me.

Starting to worry about my tedious control of my emotions, I tugged again in an attempt to release my hand. The dog growled softly before, surprisingly letting go of my hand, jumping behind me it nudged me forwards. Confused, but deciding I might as well go with it, I spoke to the mutt.

"Okay! Stop pushing I'll follow you, don't be so bossy."

The dog didn't waste a second and set off in front of me at a light jog. I followed with a great deal faster jog to keep up.  
"Slow down" I gasped, "not all of us have four legs!"  
My comment was ignored as we ran into a small clearing. The dog paused for a second smelling the air. I used the time to take a much-needed breather.

"BLAM!"

A deadly ray of red light shot through the forest and straight into the dog, exactly like a lazor from some sci-fi movie. The dog collapsed heavily, completely still and looking completely dead. _'OOOOOOOHHHHH CRAAAAAAAAP' _my thoughts shouted in warning. I stopped and turned to go back the way we had come. A person appeared behind me, dressed in black, with a strange mask on and pointing a stick at me. Around me others appeared stepping out from behind trees, all had sticks pointed at me and the dog and all were dressed in black wearing masks. '_Great I m surrounded by Emo's'_

"Good shot Avery" a male voice slightly muffled from the mask announced to the right of me.

"The famous Sirius Black, out done by the most simplistic of all ambushes."

I wondered briefly if they meant the dog, then shivered realising they probably did and if so these people were probably not in the right frame of mind.

Words such as _'Psychotic murderers'_ crossed my mind along with snatches of newspaper stories from my memories. _'Great I'm surrounded by Psychotic Emo's who talk to Frigging dogs like they where humans and my mind just had to start remembering tales of lunatic murders instead of concentration, on remembering who my family is, or even if I have a family?' _

"Lucius, Black isn't the only one, look, seems like we picked up another animal." The voice was a women's, high pitched and mocking, coming from the figure behind me, she was the only one not wearing a mask and her features were cold and sharp I shivered I had an awful feeling that this woman belonged in a straight jacket with 'insane and dangerous' stamped across her forehead.

I once again curled my hands up into fists and (this time with more success) had managed to move my feet until they were comfortably shoulder width apart. I didn't have the fighting skills capable of taking out such a large group, but maybe if I was fast enough I could find an escape route.

The man spoke again "well, well what do we have here, who are you my dear?" he asked it in a voice that sounded overly sweet kind of like honey (I hate honey it's too sweet).

"Alex" I finally relented.  
"Alex, who?" God did the guy think me stupid I wasn't going to give a stranger my last name.

"Who are you?" I simply countered. Looking the man over. He looked rather weak, with platinum blonde hair, sharp features and a snobbish air about him; even his accent was stuck-up British. Perfect I could probably punch him in face and duck around him to escape.

"Oh no dear, it doesn't work like that, you answer our questions, now tell me who you are or I shall force it from you." I tightly closed my lips trying not to show my fear at the same time thinking of a reply, not that I could have told him my last name anyway my mind hadn't been able to stumble across that memory yet.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw the dog stir slightly. It wasn't dead? '_If I can distract them this dog might offer me enough of a distraction to flee from this…this cult?' _It was a selfish thought, but I don't think anyone would expect me to bravely fight off a group of strangers in a spooky forest!

"Look mate…" I started, in an effort to stall.

"I am not your mate!" the blonde haired man snapped back

"Yea whatever sorry, well sir I would love to stay and chat but my mother and father are probably started to get worried back at our camp, so I really should be going".

Some of the people around me started laughing. "Oh I don't think so girl, I'm guessing that since you don't know who we are, you're a Muggle." He spat as if the very word revolted him. "I highly doubt that your parents would be camping in…this forest" he drawled the words out softly and menacingly, snickers came from some of the figures.

"Lucius, hurry up I think the mongrel is waking! Question her later!" another person to the left said in a worried tone

The man sighed "Relax Crabbe we got Black easily covered."

"Well I'm sure our master will be pleased with this new specimen to add to his collection" he murmured, as I suddenly left the groups attention. Obviously being classified a muggle wasn't anything flash, whatever that was anyway. Lucius murmured something, which I failed to hear and a red beam shot out from the stick he was holding.

I jumped in surprise dodging it more out of luck than skill as the laser brushed past me it raised Goosebumps on my arms. My dodge had brought me less than a metre away from another cloaked figure. I guessed that he was a guy and hoping I was right I kicked him straight between the balls he screamed in a very peculiar high pitch voices and fell to the ground. I ran straight through the gap his fallen figure left.

"Bella stun her!"

"STUPEFY!" the high pitched woman shouted.

Mid-step I felt something hit my back, instantly throwing me off balance. I started to fall forward, as my vision went dark I never remembering hitting the floor.

Waking up on a hard, cold cement floor is never a pleasurable experience, its even worse when you realise that both your arms are tied behind your back, your side is numb from you lying awkwardly on it and your head is still pounding. I carefully sat up and felt my tummy heave, _'great.'_

'_When I get out of here and find the people who captured me there is going to be some serious arse kicking taking place' _I thought furiously at the same time opening my eyes and trying to sit up. Truthfully I was just happy to still be alive.

It took a long time for my eyes to adjust to the very dim light, but I eventually worked out that I was in a cell, it seemed like a pretty big cell as well, though it seemed I was in a corner and both stone walls ran off into the darkness. It was easier to see further along the wall to the left of me as it featured a small dim, almost artificial looking candle and a door that seemed to move in candle light; while the hard concrete floor was like a broken sea of roughly laid stone.

'_Why is the cell so big if it's only for one person? In stories people are usually put in tiny cramped cells?' _my question was almost immediately answered.  
"Hello dear"  
I jumped so violently that a fell back down to the floor landing again on my side with an "oomph".

"Oh sorry, here let me help you up." The voice was a woman's sounding kind yet tired the sound of voice I would expect an old women who was just hanging around waiting for death, to have. Strong but very bony hands helped me sit up again and I turned to look at the women. Surprisingly the women wasn't old but looked middle aged.

"Who are you?" I asked shakily (I still hadn't recovered from the scare). The women looked like she had at one time had beautiful long blonde hair, but grease and dirt had made it stringy, knotty and a mustard brown. The rest of her features were too difficult to make out in the light.

"My names Mary, what's yours?"

"Alex. Um where am I?" I questioned

The women looked at me the light making her eyes seem black and haunted "none of us know exactly where we are…"

'_Us?'_ I looked around my eye sight had adjusted a great deal more by now and I realised that there was a great deal of movement in the room around me and the sound of muted whispers reached my ears.

"But I will explain as much as possible" Mary continued, "all of us here were taken by a group of people who call themselves Death Eaters. They are…now I know this will sound slightly crazy but they are Wizards and Witches. The wooden sticks they have are wands and as far as I have figured that's how they use their magic." Mary hardly took time to pause and once she had finished her explanation she looked at me daring me to deny what she had said.

Usually when someone gives you an illogical explanation like that well…you don't usually believe him or her. Frankly I was at the stage where I don't think it mattered what was logical or not; her explanation although far-fetched fit the situation enough for me to just go with it. One thing was nagging me though the words "Death Eater" it sounded so damn familiar yet I couldn't for the life of me remember why. I decided to leave that thought to mull over later along with the rest of my less than half remembered memories.

"So these… Death Eaters, what do they want?"

Mary seemed startled. "You believe what I say?"

I shrugged, "well your explanation is up there with crop circles and Jesus but I got nothing better to believe. Besides I get a better feeling believing that I'm still on earth and not in some spaceship about to be probed."

Mary seemed even more taken a back by my reply. Oh well I didn't want to explain my logic to a complete stranger. Mary, after a pause continued on, her voice had gotten significantly softer.  
"The Death Eaters are controlled by their leader a Dark wizard, though I don't know his name, It's him who they all obey; he's the one who ordered us captured. We are all non-magical, the Death Eaters call us 'Muggles'." She trailed of as if aware that the information she was giving me was irrelevant. I caught a glimpse into her eyes…they were dull, lifeless, the eyes of someone who was speaking by not feeling.

I stared at Mary for a few seconds uneasiness settling into my stomach, it was pretty obvious this woman wasn't in her best state of mind. It was like she was a recorder, repeating everything with the same blank expression. Still she didn't feel like a threat.

"Mary… why? Why do they keep you all here?" I whispered as quietly as Mary had. A small dry sob came from Mary. I blinked surprised at the sudden shift from emptiness to emotion.

"Because" her voice was so low I had to lean in which I can tell you now is not easy especially with your arms bound.

"Because we are perfect specimens!"  
_'yep she's definitely not completely sane'_ my thoughts were screaming. "Specimens for what?" I some how managed to say in a calm voice.

"For experiments, that's why we're all here. A war is coming and 'he' is trying to create an army! An army with us as his soldiers, soldiers equipped with weapons which he can rule the world with!"

I had a massive sinking feeling in my stomach; I wondered what this woman had been through to become so…so…unhinged? It didn't give me very much hope for the future, especially as Mary's outburst seemed to hold a ring of truth to it.

I was desperate to crack a joke "Well that's a relief" I casually said trying to add a cheery tone "I'm definitely not perfect, maybe if I tell this so called leader, he'll let me go."

Mary didn't laugh and for the first time she fully met my eyes, instead of looking distantly over my shoulder. Her sudden seriousness made my stomach clench and ache even harder.

"Well then I guess when they find out you will be killed, you're too young to be here anyway. Still death isn't that bad an option, at least yours will be quick."

Mary made her way to her feet and started to walk slowly and painfully away, her form slumped.

"WAIT!" I called she jumped and turned; I was also surprised my voice rang out so loud in the room that I had jumped a little my self.

"Yes?" she whispered. I thought desperately I didn't want the women to go, she was insane but I was confused and I was scared but what was I going to say… "Ah when I was captured there was a dog with-"

"He's next to you, chained to the wall." Mary cut in.

"Err thanks…um, could you please do me a favour and untie me?"

At first I thought the women would refuse, instead she came around me and started to untie my hands "Thank you" I said again.

"Don't thank me I can't untie them fully it would mean more pain than I care to think about but I will loosen them for you, so that you can slip them off reasonably easy. Just make sure that if "they" come you manage to get the rope back on again." I nodded my head in agreement, Mary was strange, her personality seemed to jump from insane to normal, and it was slightly intimidating.

"Ah Mary may I please ask you one more question?" no answer I decided to take it for a yes "You see I m not too sure where I am any more so um, I was wondering…what country am I in" I blurted out the last bit, I had been thinking of adding "and world" but I couldn't get my self too.

A noise behind me made me crick my neck back to see her, I realised that it was a small chuckle "Why, you poor thing, your in England."

I gasped 'ENGLAND! _WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING IN ENGLAND?'_

Barely even feeling myself move I got to my feet and moved robotically further into the corner to where I assumed the dog was, I stumbled a few times as my mind felt like it was shrinking and expanding all at once in shock.

When the Dog saw me it gave a small thump of its tale. "Hello boy" I said as I tried to sit back down, instead I just fell over side ways. (Sitting down with your arms half tied is not easy!)

Once I was leaning against the wall next to the dog I looked at it. "You know you have gotten me into a lot of trouble." The dog looked at me sadly and whined. "Its ok I forgive you I probably would have been caught anyway, and besides you were trying to get me away, right?" I asked him not expecting any form of answer but the dog nodded its head. I was slightly shocked and remembered when before it had seemed to answer me as if it understood what I was saying. I asked the typical question. "Can you understand me? If so bark twice" two barks rang through the cell, even though they were the quietest barks I had ever heard a dog do before.

"Oh god" was all I could mutter as suddenly everything seemed to hit me at once. I pulled off the ties, restraining my hands and; hugging my knees, breathing deeply physically trying to stop my self from hyperventilating as well as bursting into tears. The dog licked my fingers and strangely it made me feel a bit calmer. Absently I patted its head trying to quell my thoughts from buzzing around at a hundred kilometres an hour.

A cold metal pricked my fingertips making me flinch in surprised. A metal collar looking almost painfully tight was sealed around the dog's neck, the collar then led to a chain leash and that was attached to the wall.

I tried to squeeze two fingers or even one finger between the collars and was shocked to find I couldn't. "Oh you poor thing, this is pretty much strangling you!" I sent my fingers along the collar trying to find a clasp to unlock it, but it was useless and the poor light stopped me from giving it a good look. I turned to other matters.

"So you have a name? What was it those guys said when they captured you…that's it Sirius?" Sirius wolfed in answer. I yawned and closed my eyes leaning against the wall, I wasn't that tired but my killer headache was sapping my energy. I just wanted to sleep, to forget. At least in these dungeons it wasn't too cold, still it was nice to have Sirius's warm body against my side, plus a dog who could understand English wasn't that something amazing As I drifted it was with an odd clarity that I realised things would never be the same.

_I know there are mistakes still :D so please Review and tell me your thoughts!_


	2. Branded

_Another update although this chapter is a bit too short. BTW just thought i would make it clear that this story is set in 5th year Harry Potter books and yes you will see all the normal characters of the HP universe._

* * *

…Lately I just can't shake it  
I count the days in seconds and minutes  
Hours and hours are subtle as shards of glass  
In the skin…

These bones  
Are like maps and keys  
Where they took their hits  
And they felt those teeth  
There's a story hidden  
Underneath  
If you dig in deep  
Will you find relief?

For these bones  
Shudder all night long  
The hammer drops  
Another scar  
For these bones  
But I know  
They're only my second home…

Forgive my manner of speaking  
I know it's quick, but the clock is still ticking  
And I've got a few words left burning holes on my tongue  
I've been saving them

These Bones by Dashboard Confessional

**Chapter Three  
Branded**

A growling right next to my ear threw me very reluctantly from the depths of an uncomfortable, yet deep sleep. Bleary I looked up at Sirius who was standing over me, hackles up "What's up?" I mumbled sleepily.

"Get to your feet girl." I jumped in surprise and looked up to see two psychotic Emo- ah I mean Death Eaters standing over me. Both had stick- I mean wands pointed at Sirius and me.

I looked down blinking my eyes rapidly, my contacts (which covered for my bad eyesight) had dried out slightly (I'm not suppose to sleep in them). Sighing I made a terrible show of trying to get to my feet, as slowly as possible. I didn't even need to act this out, sleeping on a stone cold floor sure made you painfully stiff. The two Death Eaters seemed to be coated in muscle, muscle was everywhere covering them like a massive one piece suit, their small heads completely out of proportion compared to their bodies. Their eyes were small and set deep into their heads. A dull glimmer made me guess that these guys had the muscles of a gorilla and the brains to match.

My slow progress started to annoy the two and with a snarl of frustration one of the Death eaters grabbed my arm and jerked me up right. I grimaced as his grip dug deep into my arm and shoulder muscles.

"Thanks dude couldn't have done it with out you." I told him sweetly. The D.E. guy wasn't amused and showed it with another powerful cuff across my head_. 'OW, OW, OW!'_ My head rang for a few seconds before I managed to get a grip on the pain; my headache, which had disappeared, started to come back in full force.

"Well someone woke up on the wrong side of bed this morning." I murmured under my breath. Unfortunately the oath heard me and again raised his hand. The other D.E. stopped him "let it go Goyle, our master will make her pay."

Goyle smiled then turned his attention to the dog at his feet, which was hung taunt against the chain. "Well if it isn't Little Sirius Black. I believe that our master will be wanting to see you later…" he left the sentence hanging an untold prediction of things to come. Sirius tried to leap at them but the two apes just laughed. Goyle stepped closer then swung a vicious kick catching Sirius right between the ribs.

I was shocked (yes I am one of those animal welfare freaks) "Oi buddy, if your so called "Dark Lord" wants to see me, don't you think we should hurry along" I furiously snarled at them "and not take your anger management problems out on a tied-up-chained-to-the-wall dog who has no ways of defending its self?"

This time I got a violent punch in the stomach that I managed to block partly by tensing my stomach muscles. It still would have knocked me down if not for the other Gorilla's grip as it was I felt like I would never be able to draw breathe into my lungs again.

By the time I regained my breathe and footing, we had already started moving and common sense quickly reasserted itself and I decided I would do better to just keep my mouth closed. I consoled my self by thinking _'Even monkeys are smarter than these guy's_'. The thought was useless but at least it make me feel better.

The two D.E.s opened up the metal door and dragged me out. The corridor here wasn't much brighter from the cell but it was still bright enough that I had to blink a few times to be able to see clearly. As we walked, we passed more metal doors; I guessed these were the other cells that Mary had been talking about. I shivered, a cold draft raising goose bumps on my arms distractedly I wondered what season it was. _'Hmm…in Perth it had been late spring' _I was surprised to remember_'…and if what Mary said is true and this is the U.K. that means that it's around autumn…CRAP! IT'S GOING TO GET COLDER?' _

I pulled my self out of those icy thoughts and concentrated on my surroundings…nothing had changed except for the lighting getting better. I was about to ask the D.E's how much longer this was going to take, if we could stop for a snack along the way (hey I was hungry, I couldn't remember the last time I had eaten...LITERALLY!), when a door opened to the side of me (seemingly by its self) and I was shoved inside.

The room was like the rest of this mansion or castle or whatever place we were in, cold, covered in stonewalls and offcourse very dark and gloomy. There were a few of what looked like torture implements and chains connected to the wall.

I'm sure for most people they would have been terrified and quivering in fear. Unfortunately I obviously had a twisted sense of humour. So on seeing the chains and other torture implements, instead of quivering with fear I started quivering with suppressed laughter '_Kinky!'_

The other D.E guy smiled dimly at me, mistaking my shaking for fear. On seeing his smug smile I couldn't control my self any longer and burst out laughing.

Both of D.E's were seriously confused, "Crabbe, Goyle." Another mans voice rang out "I thought the whole point of bringing animals up here was to frighten them out of their wits…instead you bring me an idiotic Muggle who is near hysterical with laughter…the Dark Lord will not be pleased" The last part of this was whispered in a quiet threatening voice and out of the corner of my eye I noticed both Grabbe and Goyle, pale. Turning my attention away from them I concentrated on the voice. It sounded so familiar and after a few seconds thought I remembered. The voice was from the man's who had been in the clearing…what was his name…ah yes, Lucius.

"I think she might be crazy" announced Goyle, looking at me confused with a slight frown on his face, like he was thinking and it was unknown territory to him.  
"Where's our master?" Grabbe asked, looking worriedly around, still slightly pale.  
"The Dark Lord would not bother himself over a single Muggle, as it is I have the distasteful duty of initiating this one."

As I felt their arms loosen on me I realised this was my last chance, I slipped the rope bonds off (I had tied them loosely back around my arms before falling asleep) and pushed both baboons out of my way (it was like pushing brick walls and had no effect at all) fleeing for the still open door.

The two D.E.s Grabbe and Goyle where frozen in place (luckily since my push hadn't budged them) unable to react, their slow minds still trying desperately to comprehend that yes indeed I was escaping and they were meant to be stopping me.

Unfortunately Lucius was a great deal smarter than the two and with better reflexes. "Petrificus Tortalus" I heard him shout from behind me. Next thing I knew all my muscles and limbs were frozen, refusing to obey my brains desperate commands.

'_Attempted to escape plan A)…a complete and utter disgrace. Note to self: For future escape plans be sure that no people who have IQ's over five are in vicinity.'_ I pulled my self out of my thoughts to notice Lucius yelling at Grabbe and Goyle, which made me feel slightly happier.

Grabbe and Goyle picked me up once again, making sure to cause me as much pain as possible. They carried me to the centre of the room where there was a platform-like-table but no legs and with chains lying on it. Hmm floating table…interesting.

I sighed inwardly with relief as I was released from the two Gorillas painful grip; however my relief was short lived as the chains wrapped around my arms and legs in an even tighter and more painful grip.

As soon as the chains had sealed their grip on me, the spell that had locked all my muscles loosened and I set to blinking very rapidly (you try not blinking for a minute and half!).

A clatter to my left made me turn and look in Lucius's direction. He drifted into my sight looking very smug. "Enjoying the accommodation?" he said politely with that same too sweet like honey voice.

"Hello Lucius, um I was thinking don't you think you should get a hair cut or something?" I inquired ignoring his sarcastic question. "Cause dude, long hair is defiantly not cool at the moment…unless of course you are trying out for a hair ad, but if so they might have to blur your face…unless of course it was a hair and pimple a-"

Lucius let me talk for a few seconds his face growing more and more stormy and then… "CRUCIO"

I screamed, oh fucking god, I screamed. It hurt, it hurt so much. I wanted it to end; I couldn't think it just encompassed me stifling me like someone had taken to shoving a million needles into me all at once, twisting them and shoving them deeper hitting every pain receptor in my body.

When it stopped my body was shaking with the occasional spasm. Tears, I realised vaguely, were running down my face and I couldn't help but utter a sob in a dried and cracked voice. My body was warm yet cold I felt the sweat coating my body but was shivering, feverish my eyes were tightly shut it was too much effort and too painful to open them.

"Crucio"

Again the pain, this numbing pain that seemed to stretch out the barriers of time itself, when would it stop? How much time had even passed? Minutes? Hours? Days? Yea-" abruptly it stopped and I lay there gasping, my body still spasming violently against the chains.

'_God these people are so damn violent, learn to love dude'_.

"LUCIUS!" A voice rang out coming from behind Lucius. The voice had shouted in a deep, biting voice. Lucius turned, his face betraying surprise. Unbelievably I found my self-staring at the source of the noise. A head, a floating head…in the middle of the fire place…

"Nott, what is it, I'm with a prisoner"

"Sorry lucius, problem has come up, "he" wants you down in HQ in ten"

"Very well, go! Let my quickly finish off here"

Lucius turned back to me and I was able to quickly see the head turn away and disappeared. I looked up at Lucius scowling, angrily. Dear lord I didn't want another round of that horrible pain but I couldn't seem to stop the anger that was building inside of me. Lucky for me Lucius seemed to be lost in thought staring at the opposite wall. I stared at him in fascination as emotions ran wild across his face, anger, confusion, hatred, sadness and lastly fear.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" I stupidly and angrily asked, before my brain could shut my mouth (I swear my brain can control everything in my body except my tongue, it has a life of its own.)

His face froze for a minute in shock then hardened and went expressionless "CRUCIO"

The pain hit me again; crap how the hell could it be so bad? I just wanted it to end, wanted anything to happen to stop the pain, _'Blacking out would be real nice sometime around about now'_ I thought somehow, through the pain. Strangely the pain wasn't as completely mind numbing, as if Lucius was to distracted to give the spell more power. Still I lay there panting brutally chiding myself _'you and your big fucking mouth and crap, smart arse comments'_. I could barely control my body through the spasms that wracked it.

"You girl will learn your place, be it either the hard way or the easy way." I looked up into Lucius's eyes, my own eyes betraying me as they spilt over and tears leaked down my face.

"Now as much as I would love to stay and chat with you" he continued "I have better things to do, so I'll have to rush things" he waved his wand and the chains around me started to move. I screamed as the chains started to crush me, I could feel my bones creaking under the pressure.

Managing to get some type of control over the pain, which was particularly hard since my muscles were spasming and seizing up even while held by the chains. Finally I opened my eyes attempting to get my swimming vision to concentrate on Lucius.

Lucius was holding a long metal stick with a symbol at the end. _'It's like a branding iron, like the ones they use on the cows…luckily there isn't any fire lit and he's in a rush'. Feverishly I thought, or hoped rather._ As I watched he lowered his wand to the end whispered some words, I started to feel a great deal of dread, the iron suddenly caught and flared, on fire. When the fire had died down the symbol at the end was glowing a merry cherry red. I didn't find it too merry '_SHIITTT it is a branding iron!'_

Lucius approached "Now this should only hurt a lot" as he said 'lot' he brought the iron down upon my upturned right wrist. I screamed, it wasn't as bad as the Crucio thingy but the realisation that this was a physical pain and that the sickening scent that filled my nostrils was my own skin burning seemed to be so much more dramatic. The pain was incredible, I couldn't move and so I screamed. _'Black out damn you'_ I yelled at my brain, it ignored me; I guess it liked watching me suffer.

Finally the poker was realised, it hadn't been held against my skin for long, but the pain didn't fade at all when it was moved away. I was sobbing (so much for the tough-with-attitude impression I had been trying to give).

"Now girl you are property of the Dark Lord" as he leant down closer to me, I gathered as much saliva and blood in my mouth. Then did the single most stupidest thing I could ever think of doing, not that there was really any" I spat out bulk of blood that had started clotting into my mouth, straight into Lucius's hair.

His face went blank before his every feature sharpened with fury. _'Oh No. Don't tell me he worships his hair!'_ It was as if my brain was finally catching up with my actions as it quite loudly repeated how stupid I am. Lucius gave a

"You girl, are a very slow learner and so you shall learn the hard way and the humiliating way"

And once again he lowered the piping hot iron, this time right underneath my eye on the sensitive skin of my cheekbone. Thankfully, this time I blacked out.

* * *

_Thanks guys i got this out to show that updates will be a bit more regular :P please tell me what you think i read and reply to every comment and they all inspire me so much :D_

_Oh! and tell me about any mistakes or things i can improve on please?_

_3 Loopy  
_


	3. They're Not Terrorists

_Hey Guys!_

_I have my final exams coming up for semester so might get some delay on the next chapter :P_

_please read and tell me your thoughts._

_Thanks to White Alchemist Taya for her wonderful review :)_

* * *

_I've seen the people that they've branded  
They always come out open handed  
Come to the mothership is landing  
They're going to give us what we want  
Open your eyes  
Push yourself inside  
Contemplate all of your senses  
Tell them what you want to lose  
They'll just spit in your face  
Push you back in your place  
Concentrate all of your answers  
Tell them what you think you know _

_Occams Razor by 30 seconds to mars_

**Chapter 3**

**They're Not Terrorists**

I regained consciousness with the feeling of floating _'Did I die?'_ I asked myself, my body seemed numb, before an instant second of panic sharpened my mind. I was falling not floating, any second now I would hit the gro-.

I moaned weakly as my body jarred, and waves of pain went shooting through my system. Somewhere above I heard two familiar voices laughing, Crabbe and Goyle. '_Well that solves it I'm definitely dead, must be in Hell.'_ I decided not to dwell on that thought. '_Come on Alex just open your eyes, it's all going to be alright'_ I opened my eyes… _'_

"Damn" I said and closed them again.

I was back in the cell and my pain seemed to be increasing ten fold as my senses started reporting back. My whole body was one big ache, with my muscles randomly and frequently cramping, leaving me struggling to adapt to the pain.

The most painful places, by far though were my wrist and under my eye, both burns were aching fiercely the areas feverish and painful to the cool touch of my fingers.

I buried my head into my knees trying to control the tears and spasming of my limbs. Never had I been this miserable.

A noise beside me made me flinch and open my eyes; it was Mary and another man. The man was tall and somewhat muscular; he had a kind looking face and blonde hair and looked to be around the same age as Mary.

"Oh dear, you annoyed them didn't you?" Mary said in a soothingly though scatterbrained way, as she kneeled down, petting my arm.  
I nodded weakly. "If you call telling the blonde dude to get a hair cut, then yea I think I did kinda got on his nerves" I said in a pretend false-cheery voice, which was ruined by my voice catching and my eyes filling up I had to look away blinking rapidly as tears slid down, cooling my burning cheek. Damn I hated crying in front of people.

The man shook his head "You're an idiot girl, but it's nice to have something new, I'm John, John Smith" His voice was nice, deep and authorative, the sort of voice I would expect an army commander to have for all I knew he could be one.

"I'm Alex"

"Do you have a last name?" the man said teasingly.

I frowned trying to remember, "I don't know, I think I have amnesia I can't remember too much."

The man nodded in understanding and sympathy. "Hey here you should take it as a blessing some people would give anything to forget" as he said this his voice sadden and his face clouded, his sudden anguish making me look away in discomfort. An awkward silence fell while John tried to force back on the mask of hope.

"You have a very peculiar accent, it sounds familiar, do you remember where you're from" I smiled "I'll give you a clue, G'day mate." I saw recognition light up in his face. "You're Australian?" he whispered slightly over-acting his surprise.  
"Bingo!" I played along.  
"What are you doing in the U.K.?"  
"Well I have been trying to work that one out for my self. One minute I'm in sunny Perth the next I'm in a forest being surrounded by psychotic nut cases" I paused quelling the sudden ache in my throat, before tentatively speaking again. "So you guy's all Pom's?"

"Most of us are" John said surprise still on his face along with a faint smile given away only by the forced twist of his lips. "There are some…Yankees," John said sampling the teenage language in an effort to be friendly "but they have all been living in the U.K for over a year."  
I smiled politely. "How did you all come to be here?"

John's face simply stopped becoming blank, his head tilted now so the shadows hooded his eyes. "Kidnapped. We were taken from our homes, from the street, from buses, work, where ever you can think of. The arseholes would blow up half the bus or wherever you were killing and taking anyone who tickled their fancy." Johns voice was acridly bitter, filled with hate. "At first we thought them to be terrorists but then…" he gestured vaguely with his arm "well we quickly found out they weren't." I realised his gesture had meant the magic had made it obvious.  
"After that they killed off those who were too young, old or simply those who were weak it was like the were randomly killing those who didn't pass some test." His voice broke at that and I watched as he turned his face away. "My daughter she was nine and my wife they both…" his voice failed him and the conversation stopped.

Feeling the despair growing with the silence and completely unprepared to have a grown man breakdown on me I tried to fill in the gap. "I'm sorry," I murmured pathetically.

John shuddered then regained himself. "Thanks, but they were the lucky ones, in some ways it was better for them to go.…Quickly instead of slow death in this darkness." he coughed to clear his throat, which had become thick with emotion. "you're the youngest here at the moment, its rather surprising." "T…well children older than you have been killed.

I froze in surprise, goose bumps raised on my body as a cold rush of water ran through my blood. The sudden realisation of how close I could have been to death suddenly hit me, for a few merciful seconds it blanked out the pains of my body as I appreciated still being alive. As the seconds passed and I briefly contemplated my own mortality I gently soothed my burning cheek with my cold fingers.

John large fingers firmly but gently picked up my burnt wrist nodding his face a mask, lifting his own writ, we both had the same mark.

"We all have it; it's a sign of our imprisonment." John said in a voice completely devoid of feeling again. "It's so we know that that we belong to 'Him', we are simply animals, cattle to the likes of these monsters."

I shivered at the horrible similarity to how the Nazi's treated the Jew's. The realisation twisted my stomach into knots the feeling making me want to puke as I took in John's words.

"Whose? Whose are we?"

"His name we do not know, those who do fear to speak it, however here he is referred to as the Dark Lord."

Despite the seriousness of the situation I felt like laughing. What a gay, cliché and try-hard name. My amusement didn't last long. The wrist burn could easily be covered, but the mark on my cheek would forever mar my face. It would be a symbol to everybody that I belonged to the Dark Lord. The sudden realisation allowed true depression to hit me like a blow, wiping away all my positive thinking and stripping bare the truth of the situation.

"I don't understand why they gave you a second brand though?" John questioned quietly again.

I kind of insulted the blonde guy, Lucius."  
"That's not too bad though usually everyone tries to throw in a few insults."  
"I taunted him about his hair."

John froze his mouth still open. "Ah" he said as he closed it. "Yea that mans a bit sensitive about his hair."

I saw John faintly shake his head not noticing my crestfallen face in the dark.

"You're crazy girl…and your antics, foolish but I guess that's youth for you." I supposed it was a compliment of a kind, but it didn't cheer me up in the slightest.

Mary who had been quietly humming to her self, hugging Johns arm, suddenly removed a bundle of material from behind her. "Happy Birthday," She whispered giggling "Father Christmas was good to you this year; he even left you a gift." I accepted the bundle kind of creeped out by Mary's behaviour.

"Thank you." I whispered, but Mary had already turned away, disappearing into the dark.

I looked back at John whose eyes followed Mary. "She was one of our leaders before you know. She's been in here the longest. When I first came I was so distraught with grief and fear that I refused to eat or drink. Mary pulled me out, gave me company, sympathy and a shoulder to lean on. She was so strong. She encouraged us to have hope and we set in place a plan to escape. It failed miserably of course and Mary was the one who took the blame. She was taken away cussing and fighting and came back three days later, battered and insane. She has good days though."

I hugged my knees closely, not wanting to hear the words coming from John's mouth that were driving me into an even deeper pit of horror and despair. I didn't want to listen to this; I didn't want to hear what horrors I could look forward to in this prison and I didn't want to accept that death frequently visited these cells.

"I'll come and talk again later." John muttered before hurriedly following Mary. A silent cry of anguish filled my body. I was really just a kid and the only adults in this place didn't care that I was cold or hungry, and they had very little sympathy for the fact that I had only just been tortured. In my world adults were meant to care about that, they were meant to make all the pain go away with a band-aid and a kiss. I stood up, legs shaking, moving away across the room, taking the material Mary had given me and finding my away past the glowing eyes of other prisoners.

My way across the cell was shaky, but I took the time to calm myself and to regain control of my emotions. It helped now that I was away from John and Mary; they were just so torn and broken that they seemed to leach the hope right out of me. Finding my way to Sirius I greeted him tiredly. "Hey boy" and sat down against the wall. My wrist and cheek were both burning so badly and I turned my cheek to the side so it was against the cool stone, it was a small relief but a relief none the less. My wrist I turned palm upwards trying to make out what had been so cruelly burnt there. I managed to make out what I guessed to be a skull with something, which could be a slug going through it. Underneath there was more, but I couldn't make that much out.

"Great not only have a got a crap tattoo but it's of a freaking slug!" I said grumpily trying to cheer myself up, "you can now call me slug skull or Sluggy!"

Sirius looked at me blankly for a few seconds then his mouth opened and curled into what looked like an all too human smile.

"I'm glad you're amused, but you ain't the one with it tattooed onto your bloody wrist and cheek! Geeze and its such an emo style as well" I whined grinning back at Sirius. Sirius looked at me, his head drooping as he whined. Moving closer I hugged him, more to reassure myself than him.

"It'll be alright, I mean we just need to work out an escape plan, it's easy…"

The depression and seriousness of the situation hit me again as I considered my situation; I was trapped, with no freedom; a prisoner. I was lost in a country on the other side of the continent, with no idea of how I had managed to get here. I had lost half my memory that didn't seem to be in any rush to return. My chance of escaping was pretty much zero as my captors had a '_slight'_ advantage since they could use magic. I was cold, hungry, thirsty, sore, burnt and apparently there was a chance I was going to be used in some kind of experiment?

I drew my knees up to my chest and burst into tears, keeping as silent as I could. Sirius wrapped himself closer to me until his warm body was partly covering me, he licked my hand and I hugged him, burying my head into his musty black coat and laying my cheek against his metal collar as sobs shook my body.

* * *

Sirius was frightened; which was rare. Sirius had lived a hard life and after so many years in Azkaban the after effects seemed to have numbed a lot of his feelings. As he was a man who was known for his lack of fear, except for those he loved, it was indeed strange that he felt such angst over a strange and completely random muggle girl. He gently muzzled the shuddering girl, her head half buried in his fur, and felt a sharp pain in his gut; guilt. Sirius knew it wasn't his fault; he had stumbled across the girl and, seeing her dazed, frightened look, had assumed that the Death Eaters had taken her and she had managed to escape. He had wanted to help but in the end it had gotten her into even more trouble.

Now however he wasn't sure, she had at first been afraid of him, but the girl,_ 'No Alex' _he corrected himself, had realised something was up and had followed him, willingly. He had been desperate to escape and the girl made him lose focus, so he had fallen for their simplistic ambush. He had even more disgracefully been hit by a simple stunning spell, easily dodged, and had left the girl alone to fend off a host of Death Eaters. Some noble light warrior he was. Snape would have a ball with this! Though then again it had been Snape who had set up his escape… Sirius really couldn't really work out his feelings on that. If he had just left the girl alone, she might have been able to escape by her self, Death eaters were hardly going to care about one Muggle. He was such an idiot!

He sighed, but stopped halfway as the girl, now sound asleep, murmured, frightened by the movement. Sirius, rarely felt true fear but he did worry and he hated that feeling just as much, he was, or had been, a carefree person, in another lifetime, but lately all he had done was worry; between Harry, the Order, getting captured and now the girl…

On top of that he was imprisoned in a dungeon. He hated dungeons, they reminded him too much of Azkaban, although he was relieved that there were no Dementors around; but at least in Azkaban Dementors were all you had to worry about. Now he was prisoner to the most powerful Dark Wizard of all time, with a host of Death Eaters all after his blood.

However, what worried him the most was the fact that they hadn't killed him instantly, but had kept him alive, and that didn't bode well, due to Harry's devotion to him and his little hero problem (as he and Remus both joked rather seriously about). He was a powerful hostage and would be a valuable information source.

Sirius had been worried when the girl had been taken and had come back not in the best of wear. He wanted so badly to lunge at Malfoy's throat and tear it open, _'although I would be happy with Grabbe or Goyle…Bella would be even better, no wait Pettigrew!' _What also confused him was the fact that the girl hadn't escaped from the Death Eaters, but had come from Australia; well at least that's what she said. She could very well be lying, but Sirius doubted the girl was working for HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED, since dogs, like a majority of animals, were good at sensing what a person was like; Alex had a…well a feel, which radiated normal Youth: hope, determination and kindness, but her scent was strange. She smelt of old earth, cleaner air and the tang of the ocean; she didn't smell European at all.

Despite his misgivings, the girl had surprised him with her strength, which was also part of the reason for his worry. If she kept up the attitude she was in for a rough time, but he couldn't help but feel his spirits rising with the girl being around; her aurora really was something refreshing, although he wondered if it would remain that way, kids had to age quickly in this cell if they wanted to survive.

Sirius also had to worry about maintaining his form. He could switch back to his normal shape but if he did then information would be forced from him and he would probably be killed when they realised that he didn't have much information he could share. No he had a slight advantage staying in his animagus form, it was just a case of making sure he didn't change back and a spell could force him to change. He would have to gather all his magical core to block any attack, though if He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named attacked him, Sirius knew he would be unable to do anything.

'_I guess the positive out of all this is dogs can't get headaches from thinking too hard. Remus would be amused to hear that the most thinking I've ever done seems to only occur when I'm not actually human.' _he thought with a glint of his old humour, then he closed his eyes, ears pricked and alert.

* * *

A dark muzzle gently licking my face woke me up from a strangely dreamless sleep. On waking it took a few seconds before the discomfort of my body hit me. I was stiff, every muscle aching and my wrist and cheek throbbing in time with some beat I couldn't hear. Despite the pain and discomfort, I felt oddly refreshed and renewed. Obviously my break down had done wonders _'I should do this more often'_.

I blinked, my eyes were still sticky from the tears as well as irritated, this of course was not helped at all by the fact that I still had my contacts in. I was really tempted to take them out, I had dirt behind my eyes, as well as sleep, and it would be such a relief. On the other hand my sight would be severely limited… _'damn-it I hate being short sighted!_ Sighing stiffly I sat up, ignoring the chill that hit me as my blankets fell off. Finally I gave into temptation, removing first one, then the other contact. They would have to be removed eventually and I didn't want to increase my risk of contracting any infections.

My eyes watered for a few seconds, then the itchy scratchy feeling left; I was relived. I hesitated for a second, unsure of what to do with the lenses which sat in the palm of my hand. The light was so dim that I wasn't even sure if I still had them in my palm. I brushed my hand to the side, discarding them on the floor.

Sirius was looking at me, seeming slightly confused. I guessed he hadn't seen anyone removing his or her contacts before.

"Heya Sirius! Beautiful day today, don't you reckon?" I joked. Sirius just seemed more confused. "Hmmm, where do you think the toilet is around here?"

Sirius pointed his nose to the opposite corner of the room, where a odour had been coming from. "Oh how joyful" I said, my mood slightly dampened, then I moved off towards the corner, the smell increasing with every step. I had noticed it before but it had been irrelevant at the time.

As I got within a few metres of the corner I held my breath. Embarrassed, I looked around, but thanks to the light (and my bad eye sight) it didn't seem that anyone was watching. With a curse I just got on with it.

I was making my way back to my own corner, when a series of pops went off in the room. I ducked down and a group of small, strange creatures appeared not two feet away from me. Each was carrying a few boxes and lots of cartons. They dumped them on the floor, and I realised that the three creatures wore rags, which looked to have at some time in the past existed as pillowcases. They were thin and pale, as if they had never been in the sunlight before; their ears seemed large and pointy, like elves, and their eyes were too big for their face.

'_Are these the outcomes of the experiments, that John and Mary spoke of?'_ The thought sent dread right through my body, but I quickly discarded the thought, leaving me to worry about it later.

The funny little creatures placed what they were carrying in the middle of the room and then two of them disappeared, again with loud pops. The last one went to follow, but caught sight of something and rushed over to Sirius in the corner and made its way over to him. I quickly got to my feet and followed. The elf stopped some feet away, well out of Sirius' reach.

"M-M-Master Black?" Sirius looked up and made his way to his feet, then slowly a light of recognition lit up his eyes and he nodded. The elf gave a small gasp bowed then spun around disappearing all in one movement.

I looked at the space were the curious creature had disappeared, I wasn't that surprised about the creatures disappearing, but still…they had just disappeared hadn't they? I hadn't just imagined it? Maybe my sight was getting worse and they had simply walked off into the darker parts of the cell.

What else was confusing was that it had recognised Sirius, talked to him. I wondered if it was a good sign or a bad sign of things to come. A rush of feet and people murmuring brought my attention to the centre of the room, where the creatures had dumped the packages. Confused I walked back the way I had come again.

People were around the boxes them rummaging through the packages and cartons, grabbing them and trying to escape. More people were appearing from the sides of the rooms… more people than I had expected. They were running forward, desperate for whatever these packages contained. Some people started to quarrel and then fight. I was drawn to the fighting, like a moth to one of those bug zapper things, unsure of what else to do.

As I reached the main group I noticed the fighting start to lessen and John, along with a few other muscular guys, grabbing the food and breaking up fights. I watched as order was eventually restored.

"CALM DOWN EVERYONE! THE FOOD WILL BE SHARED AROUND EQUALLY! STOP FIGHTING LIKE LITTLE SCHOOL CHILDREN YOU ARE ALL MATURE ADULTS ACT LIKE IT!" His words stilled the last of the restless prisoners.  
"Now may I please have two orderly lines" he said more peacefully…then he noticed the pushing and shoving that took place as people rushed to que; shouting out again "WITH NO FIGHTING OR PUSHING INVOLVED!"

Despite his words people still pushed and shoved; I had to dodge between legs and arms to find a place in the que. A man came up behind me and attempted to push me out of the way.  
"Don't you dare!" I said, giving him an evil look. He stopped his rough pushing, instead sneering down his nose at me, and I watched as surprise became evident on his face when he noticed my age. He recovered quickly however and knowing I couldn't do anything about it casually picked me up and threw me out of the line. "Respect your elders girl! Line up at the back."

"Hey! That's not fair! Move it mate! I was there first!" I snarled furious. He just smiled, however the man in front of him turned. "Kyle for god's sake let her in, or I'll tell the John and you won't get any food!" Well that answered the question about what was in the boxes.

I looked gratefully at the man. Kyle looked like he was going to argue but seemed to take in just how big the other man was and stepped back, letting me once again go in front. I guessed that the thought of no food was also on his mind.

Scowling at him I went back in line.

"Thanks mate" I said to the other guy.

He smiled faintly and I noticed shadows around his mouth, not just from the dim light, however his eyes were a brilliant shade of deep blue which reminded me of the deep ocean, they had a merry-sparkle in them that hadn't fully been distinguished. His hair was a light brown and I guessed that in a better light, after a wash, it would be a sandy blonde. He was also rather tall.

After that, apart from a few curses directed at me, along with having the back of my heels stepped on, I was left in peace. I felt slightly guilty fighting for a place in line, the people around me were starving and had been so for a while, judging by how skinny most of them were and how desperately they sought after the food, but it was because of that reason that I too was so desperate; if the food and water was so rare I wanted as much as I could get my hands on, even if it made me look desperate with greed.

I finally reached the start of the line and John gave me a small smile before giving me two hard biscuits, a handful of dried fruit, and a small strip of what I guessed to be jerky. Next he gave me one container of water.

"Now Alex you have to ration these carefully, we don't get water for another two days and even then no food for another four."

I nodded in dread and then with a slight hesitation I asked "Ummm could I please have some more?"

On seeing his expression harden I realised he thought the food for me.

"No, I want it for the dog." I pleaded. John opened his mouth but Kyle after over hearing cut in.

"NO WAY! We don't have enough food for '_ourselves_' and the chances are the dog will die any way, in fact it would be more use to us dead, at least then we might get slightly more decent food!"

John nodded sadly in agreement "I'm sorry Alex but there really isn't enough food" he looked at me sadly, "however" he said directing a hard look at Kyle "we aren't so low as to eat dogs like savages." Despite his words he didn't give me any more, and I knew why. He and a handful of others were the only things stopping the prisoners from killing each other for food, but his position was precarious.

"I'm sorry" he whispered, and although he directed the words to me he seemed to be talking to someone else someone over my shoulder and many miles away, some where lost in a far off memory.

Glumly I turned away, making my way back, I still disliked how distant they all were with me. A hand grabbed my shoulder lightly and surprised I lurched around raising my fists, thinking it was that jerk Kyle.

"Hey girl!" It was the tall man from the line, the one with the beautiful blue eyes, he was holding out his share of meat.

I shook my head "No, you need it more than me, the dog and I will survive. Thank you though."

He looked like he wanted to argue and I changed the subject.

"I'm Alex, nice to meet you" I would have held out my hand for him to shake but didn't have one spare.

"Tom" he nodded.

I smiled, feeling myself blushing slightly "thank you" I said again before quickly turning away so the urge to snatch the food out from his hands didn't over ride my common sense. '_Hehehe' _I giggled to myself _'he is cute!'._

Sirius was standing when I came back and whined softly at me in recognition, tail wagging slightly.

"Hey boy look, I got us some food and water." I gave him half of the small strip of meat, which he gulped up and looked at me for more.

"Sorry boy we got to save the rest. Here, you can have some water." I thought for a moment on how exactly I could tip the water out so that he could drink and decided the best way would be to pour it into my hand, despite the amount of water that would be wasted.

I allowed Sirius to drink a small amount, enjoying the cold water, which splashed onto my wrist. I then took a few sips myself using all my self-control not to just skull the whole carton. The water tasted old and slightly metallic, but I was too thirsty to really care. I ate a few of the dried fruit which I guessed to be a mixture of apricots, apple, sultanas and something else which tasted like a kind of carrot. I saved the rest of the food for later and sat caressing my burn under my eye with my chilled, wet fingers, giving a small dose of comfort to my burning skin.

I sat for a while deep in thought, just listening to the sounds around the room. After the food, people had calmed down and now only whispers could be heard, softly under that I noticed the sound of sobbing, the sobbing seemed to quiet the whole room until it was the only sound. It turned my gut and for some reason brought tears to my own eyes, quickly I covered my ears, turning my mind over half remembered memories, I smiled as I remembered another memory of the charity event my school had done every year.

"Hey at least this way I'll know that I can do the 40 Hour Famine, pity I wish I could have had some notification that we were going to be starved I would have asked for sponsors." I said with a false humour I didn't feel. Sirius looked confused. "Oh don't you Brits have the 40 hour Famine?" Sirius shook his head, "Well I guess British dogs wouldn't know about it anyway. The 40 hour famine is where you don't eat for 40 hours and you get people to sponsor you for not eating and at the end you send the money to World Vision who use the money to feed starving people in the third world countries." Sirius nodded and then turned his head licking his fur. "Well I can see someone is fascinated."

"So Sirius, how di-"

Before I could finish my sentence the metal door opened, letting in a cold draft and a bright light that hurt my eyes, blinding me. I covered my eyes and heard the whimpers of other people as they were also hit.

As I hurried to clear my sight, I quivered in fear. In the door way were four people, all of which had wands out, and lights burning from the tips. As the four strode into the room my fear increased and I was glad I had gone to the toilet. As they got closer I recognised the people; there was the woman named Bella, Lucius, another man I didn't know, and Grabbe and Goyle.

Sirius started quivering also and my stomach sunk as they entered the room, their eyes searching through the darkness, which we hugged so tightly.

* * *

Just check out that sexy REVIEW button! Doesn't it just make your mouse want to touch it? Caress it? Press it? :D


End file.
